actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and love is in the air.

On Saturday, the man next to me on the subway got a jump on the holiday. He had a firm grip on a dozen deep red roses. Their velvet beauty peeked out at me.

Ever the marketer, I asked if he was trying to beat the Valentine’s Day price hike.

He looked surprised.

In New York, every florist and corner deli celebrates Valentine’s Day. They trim their roses and increase the prices of their bouquets. They figure if you don’t care enough to plan ahead for a more personal gift, then you deserve to pay a premium for their ephemeral flower stock.

I avoid restaurants’ prix-fixe Valentine’s Day menus. They lack romance.

To increase revenues, they pack the tables and squeeze in extra seating. As a result, diners barely have time to clean their plates before the waiter’s tapping his foot eager to clear the table.

While you might not be able to tell from this letter, I’m a romantic at heart. When I taught graduate school I let my students out of my evening classes early to celebrate with their sweethearts.

Now, I prefer a flowerless, home cooked meal with my husband’s signature Cosmo.

This year marketers have improved their Valentine’s Day communications. It’s not just about trying to push a not-romantic gift as a must-buy.

Jet Blue sent me an email entitled, “Let’s get to know each other.” It’s a spoof on dating sites. It’s true to their brand and their colors. In my book, it’s a home run.

By contrast, Hubspot’s Inbound played on the Valentine’s Day theme with a special sale. Its subject line read, “Let’s Hear It For The Single People.” They used pink and hearts for their cheesy one-day sale. They even use the code, “LoveYourself” and sign it with XoXoX

Regardless of your personal Valentine rituals, always show your customers love and appreciation. It keeps people coming back for more.

• 100 ways to show your customers you care.
• 7 ways to use content marketing to show customers your love.

Another way to express your appreciation is supporting a cause that’s related to your business. This is a particularly good idea since millennials care about companies that are philanthropic.

• 9 actionable marketing tips to show your customers love while supporting relevant causes.

What can you do to show your customers you care?

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

Blogging Renaissance: Why You Must Blog Now

Content Marketing Audience: Do You Know Your Readers?

• With Marcus Sheridan and Sonia Simone, Heidi Cohen was one of the three judges of Social Media Examiner’s Top 10 Social Media Blogs. Check out the finalists. Add them to your feed reader to improve your social media skills.
  
  
• Outbrain named Heidi Cohen as one of the Top 20 Content Marketing Influencers of 2017. The list is useful for filling your Twitter followers.
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• Heidi Cohen contributed to Social Media Examiner’s 2017 YouTube Predictions Roundup. Since video continues to be a key element of every marketer’s offering, it’s well worth your time.

How to Create Engaging Content for 'Boring' Industries

Start creating interesting content for B2B today.

Let's be honest here, there are industries which are "sexy" and you can't decide what to publish first, but there are also industries, that are less interesting...

There's nothing wrong with this and actually these "boring" industries are usually the most profitable! 

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